The Herald-News / TheHerald-News.com • Sunday, June 15, 2014
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ILLINOIS ROUNDUP
For longer versions of these stories and more news from across the state of Illinois, visit TheHerald-News.com.
in Baghdad refuse to reform a political system that’s left the county vulnerable to a fast-moving Islamic insurgency.
Mother and child
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News from across the state
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Hedge fund CEO gives $2.5M to Rauner campaign
HOUSTON – The FBI has found in Houston a man suspected of kidnapping a 19-year-old woman in Illinois. The teenager has been safely recovered. Police in Illinois said she’d previously dated the suspect. The Houston Chronicle reported Saturday the FBI arrested Eduardo Guerrero Cortez at about 2:30 a.m. Saturday. The FBI suspects him of forcing the teenager into a Chevrolet Silverado on Wednesday in Champaign, Illinois. In a news release, Champaign Police Deputy Chief Troy Daniels said the victim was at a shopping mall with a male friend when three men approached them Wednesday afternoon, and the suspect allegedly forced her into the truck. Cortez has been charged in Illinois with aggravated battery for an alleged threat to the man who was with his former girlfriend.
CHICAGO – A Chicago hedge fund CEO’s $2.5 million donation to the campaign of Republican candidate Bruce Rauner has been termed the largest single donation in an Illinois governor’s race in the post-Watergate era. Campaign disclosure records show 45-year-old Citadel chief executive Ken Griffin has now given Rauner a total of $3.57 million, including $71,000 worth of in-kind contributions for the use of Griffin’s private jet. Griffin in the past has made campaign contributions to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a Democrat, and Republican state Sen. Bill Brady. Kent Redfield, professor emeritus of political science at University of Illinois at Springfield, said the Griffin donation is the biggest in an Illinois governor’s race since the mid-1970s campaign finance reforms that followed the Watergate scandal.
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Weekend road closures begin on Kennedy Expressway
CHICAGO – Chicago drivers bracing for delays on the Kennedy Expressway as a major bridge construction project gets underway received some good news Saturday afternoon: The work initially set for three weekends has been condensed to two. Crews began demolition of the westbound Ohio-Ontario Street Bridge to Interstate Highway 90/94 on Friday and will continue working until early Monday morning. But Illinois Department of Transportation officials said Saturday afternoon they now expect work on the $16.5 million project to wrap up after next weekend instead of pushing into a third weekend as was originally
FBI nabs Illinois kidnap suspect, victim in Texas
AP photo
In this June 9 photo provided by the Chicago Zoological Society, a female bison calf born June 6 stands with her mother, Lucy, 5, at the Brookfield Zoo in Brookfield. Bison calves are born with a reddish coat at birth, and over a period of about 15 weeks it darkens to dark brown. Bison are the symbol of the Chicago Zoological Society because they are one of the first North American conservation success stories.
planned. The agency said the fast pace of demolition work had allowed the condensed work schedule.
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Sen. Durbin calls Iraq situation ‘troubling’
CHICAGO – U.S. Sen. Dick
Durbin of Illinois said the situation in Iraq is troubling and he will listen to President Barack Obama as the president considers a range of options drawn up by the Pentagon. But the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat said he shares the skepticism of the “war-wea-
ry” American public about committing military resources “anywhere in the world.” He spoke to reporters Friday after an unrelated event. Obama on Friday promised the United States wouldn’t be “dragged back” into military action in Iraq as long as leaders
Archaeologists find artifacts at southern Illinois airport
MURPHYSBORO – Archaeologists have uncovered 1,000-yearold Native American artifacts on the grounds of a southern Illinois airport just ahead of scheduled construction projects to extend runways and relocate a nearby road begin. Crews with the Illinois State Archaeological Survey discovered five house plots from the Mississippian Era at the Southern Illinois Airport in Murphysboro. The archaeological excavation was required before construction could begin and to determine where future roads in the area could be placed, the Southern Illinoisan reported Friday. The discoveries weren’t completely unexpected, but the dig unearthed more than some expected.
– Wire reports